Is this the rebirth of Arizona Honky-Tonks ? Who has the best Music venue, you ask? In my opinion, any venue featuring live Music deserves consideration.
Through a musician’s eyes, many venues come to mind: Good Time Charli’s, Tom Ryan’s, Brookeside II, Stingers, Handlebar J’s, Norton’s Country Corner, Bourbon Jacks, San Tan Flats, Whiskey Row, The Hitching Post, The Roadrunner, Buffalo Chip, Roosters Country, Jolie’s Place, Lion’s Den, Romans Oasis, On The Green—and the list goes on. In fact, there are so many live-music venues today that it can be difficult to keep up.
These are some of the more popular venues where Arizona’s larger local country bands have performed. Back in the day, there were only a few notable venues. Most eventually closed permanently, and some of their buildings were demolished. Many people wondered whether this signaled the end of Arizona’s Country Music scene.
Rewind to the late ’90s and early 2000s, when Country Music dance clubs began taking over. Places such as Denim & Diamonds, Graham Central Station, Rockin’ Rodeo and Cheyenne Cattle Company represented a new era of what had once been the traditional honky-tonk.
These clubs featured little or no live Music . The country hip-hop clubs and so-called meat markets were on the rise, putting smaller honky-tonks—and many local musicians—under increasing pressure.
Fast-forward to the present. Many of the major country dance clubs are now gone, while those that remain occasionally bring in national headliners. In my opinion, Country Music fans have grown tired of hearing the same radio songs performed the same way every time. They want somewhere to sit down, enjoy food and drinks, and hear a live band put its own style into the Music .
Even though I personally don’t care for some of the Country Music being recorded today, I’m glad to see old-school Honky-Tonks coming back to life and Arizona’s local Country Music scene rising again.
